Water, sewer sharing talks pick up flow for Stratham and Exeter

EXETER — Discussions between Exeter and Stratham about sharing water and wastewater infrastructure are getting more serious.

Aaron Sanborn

EXETER — Discussions between Exeter and Stratham about sharing water and wastewater infrastructure are getting more serious.

Selectmen from both communities met in Exeter Thursday night to discuss the next steps in their ongoing discussions and now hope to develop a framework agreement between the towns.

The towns will likely form working groups consisting of officials from both communities to discuss the technical and financial aspects of an agreement and evaluate if an agreement is even possible.

Time is of the essence for Stratham, according to Stratham Town Administrator Paul Deschaine. Exeter currently has water and sewer services, while Stratham doesn't and is seeking to add the utilities to its “Gateway District” along Portsmouth Avenue.

Stratham has declared that they would like to have a water and wastewater infrastructure proposal in front of voters by 2014.

“Ultimately our goal is to have an efficient and effective water and sewer infrastructure along the Portsmouth Avenue corridor,” Deschaine said. “Obviously without having the infrastructure it's easy for us to say what we'd like, obviously you (Exeter) have to decide based on what you have.”

Exeter has aging water and sewer infrastructure and has to build a new wastewater treatment plant and respond to other mandates from the Environmental Protection Agency. The town of Exeter is looking at ways to ease the burden on water and sewer ratepayers.

A report put together by the Rockingham Planning Commission and Kleinfelder Engineering indicates there are mutual financial benefits for Exeter and Stratham in pursuing a shared approach to water and wastewater infrastructure and service and Exeter has the capacity to serve Stratham's “Gateway District.”

Officials from both communities say they are not concerned about the engineering of the project, as expanding Exeter's utility into Stratham is possible, but are concerned about reaching an agreement that can benefit both towns equally and then get voters to support such agreement.

“My fear is the daunting amount of work that needs to be done on the Exeter side. Any infrastructure work is an enormous cost,” said Exeter Selectman Donald Clement. “How do we soften the blow?

Because in Exeter right now the people that are going to pay the price are going to be the ratepayers.”Deschaine said Stratham is facing the same economic challenges.

“I think there's opportunity to make this a win-win situation,” he said. “We both have the same funding issues. It's a shared challenge no matter what route is taken; it's going to cost a lot of money.”

There was also some concern raised that Exeter may be forced to make a quick decision because of pressure from Stratham.

David Canada, chairman of the Stratham Board of Selectmen, said there's a misconception that an agreement between the two towns would benefit Stratham more than Exeter because Stratham may gain more development and broaden its tax base, while Exeter may lose out.

Canada said Stratham is seeking to broaden its tax base, whether it shares infrastructure with Exeter or not.

“We're going to have water and sewer either way it's just a matter of whether we're going to have it done more expensively or less expensively,” Canada said. “It seems that sharing would be less expensive.”

Exeter is looking to conduct its own economic study to see what the potential economic benefits and consequences of an agreement would be for Exeter.

Clement said his second fear is that Exeter could miss out on gaining revenue from Stratham by not coming to an agreement to share services.

Stratham Selectman Tim Copeland said Stratham could adjust its timeline somewhat if Exeter shows a willingness to move forward.

“A partnership would save you millions, save us millions and also show the rest of the state that regionalization is possible,” he said.

Exeter Selectman Dan Chartrand said it's not going to be easy but he believes it's time to move in the direction of regionalization and the towns should talk about what a possible agreement between the towns would look like.

“Let's have a tough negotiation, let's find that sweet spot and get this done,” he said.

Both towns will have further discussions about the makeup of these working groups at their respective selectmen meetings on Monday night.

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